Monthly Archives: July 2008

What will it take to get our troops out of Iraq?Â Â The roughly 70 percent of Americans who are firmly against the war often ask this question.Â Those in power are reluctant to give conditions, but when they do and those conditions are met, the goal post is quietly moved.

Voters were promised, passionately and vehemently, that the new Congress would bring our troops home.Â Many were explicitly elected in 2006 under that banner.Â But our troops are still overseas, funding has been increased even beyond the administration’s wish list, and troop withdrawal has been negotiated away.

The framers of the Constitution attempted to balance the power of the President as commander-in-chief with that of Congress, the representatives of the People.

Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution gives to the Executive Branch the command of the nation’s armed forces, while Article I, Section 8 gives to the Legislative Branch the power to decide when the United States goes to war.

A week ago today, Independence Day (not “the 4th”) was celebrated – but it seems that many people are missing the point of this holiday.Â We all enjoy taking time with family and friends – celebrating and appreciating the warm summer – but do we ever really take time to reflect on just what we’re supposed to be cheering for?

A quick perusal of the Declaration of Independence makes it quite clear:

If there were ever a time where the founding principle of America, as a nation, is justified again, it is the issue of state sovereignty.Â The notion of multiple governing entities, contractually united for a few common and limited purposes, where all else are functions of each state, is apparent in the campaign of 2008.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. – That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”

Those few words, from the Declaration of Independence, are as close as one might find to be the sum total of the principle of liberty.Â

The 10th Amendment to the US Constitution embodies much of what the founders envisioned for this country – a federal government strictly limited to only specific activities, with the rest being handled on state or local levels.

Some may call this states’ rights, others refer to it as decentralization or federalism.Â Whatever you call it, it’s a system of government where politicians in Washington D.C. wouldn’t have the power to dictate to you how to live your life.

One reason people are unhappy with the way politics and governments operate is that people who run for office are known to â€œsay one thing and do another.â€Â Thus, we have the call for â€œchange.â€

Candidates for high office make frequent use of that word.Â Even our House Republican Conferenceâ€™s recently released slogan highlights that word.

Yet, bringing about change is easier said than done.Â The American people are aware that government is broken and must be fixed.Â They will demand more than lip service as our problems become more severe.

The concept of federalism is properly used to describe a system of government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between the federal government and the states.

In contrast, the term “states’ rights” is a fraudulent and profoundly ANTI-Libertarian concept that has no other purpose but to deceive and rob us of our natural, inalienable, inseparable, non-transferable rights as human beings.

What use is the political left? This is a serious question, not a rant. The same question can be asked about the political right. The question does not imply derogatory implications about individuals on the political left or the political right. Rather, the question concerns the basket of emotions, issues, and knee-jerk responses associated with the political left and the political right.

Traditionally, the political left has had a Benthamite view of government, seeing government power as the tool for improving society whether through revolution or reform. Paradoxically, the political left has believed in Big Government despite the political leftâ€™s emphasis on civil liberty. The political left sees government power not as a threat to civil liberty but as a tool for enforcing civil liberty; for example, through Brown vs. Board of Education and coerced integration in the southern states.

The most basic principle to being a free American is the notion that we as individuals are responsible for our own lives and decisions.Â We do not have the right to rob our neighbors to make up for our mistakes, neither does our neighbor have any right to tell us how to live, so long as we arenâ€™t infringing on their rights.

Freedom to make bad decisions is inherent in the freedom to make good ones.Â If we are only free to make good decisions, we are not really free.

For many years, presidents have been assuming more and more power for themselves and for the federal government, but California has been taking the lead recently in the battle for States Rights against this growth Federal power.